Belle finds a Valentine...

Our bellies were pretty full and heavy after our lunch at Coral Reef, so we rode two rides (Nemo and Living with the Land) and called it an afternoon.

As always, we went back to the resort for an afternoon refresher.

Sadly, during that time, Evie crawled off of the bed and scraped up her nose.  The first few days of the trip she was terribly ill and then she almost broke her nose.  Poor baby girl.

We dressed the girls up in Princess costumes and headed for the Magic Kingdom.  (I'm positive that wasn't our original plan, but with Evie being ill  for half of the trip all of my plans had flown at the window.)

Disney Snobbery at it's finest...

Ready to make Valentines Day memories...

We let the girls walk through the princess line.  I thought Cinderella was adorable.  

The princess line was very light, so they really took their time with the girls.  

They loved Belle's (little Belle) shoes.

Belle made a big fuss over their costumes and Belle's hair.  To this day the poor child can barely grow hair past her shoulders, but she think she looks just like Jasmine when I giver her a braid.  

(No bow, please.  Jasmine doesn't wear bows.)

The teacups came next.  I shared a teacup with Evie so Gregg and Belle could spin fast.

The we rode the TTA again.  Good thing we love it.

Once upon a time Gregg and I had the most delicious cheeseburgers at Cosmic Ray's.  We always go back hoping to recreate that moment, but it just doesn't happen.  

I have such a love/hate relationship with Disney burgers.

Another young family sat down next to us and had two boys the same age as our girls.  

While we traded off turns getting drinks and condiments, Belle started making friends.

Soon enough it turned in to this...

We normally don't let our four year old daughters date, but since it was Valentines Day, she will most likely never see him again and adults were present... we gave in.

For the record:  Belle's first date was on Valentines Day in the Magic Kingdom.  

She will not be allowed to date again until a future caller can top that.

Lunchtime Under the Sea...

(For more of this trip report see previous posts and come back for updates.)

Our Valentines Day lunch date took place at...

Coral Reef gets lots of mixed reviews and I'll be honest with mine.

Atmosphere:  10

Coral Reef is sort of off the beaten path.  I like that.  It sort of felt like we were leaving the business of the park and heading to our own secluded area.  You enter by walking through the beautiful seahorse doors and the lobby is enchanting.  My pictures don't do it justice.  Jellyfish hang from the ceiling, mosaic tiles fill the room and give you that 'under the sea' ambiance, the lighting is low and relaxing.

Inside the seating in in a tiered level.  The lucky ones get to sit right next to the big aquarium.

Food:  Overall 7

Adult Entrees: 

This was the low point of the meal.  Greg had the grilled Mahi Mahi and it was pretty 'blah'.  Not a lot of flavor, very heavy.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. He was disappointed.

I had the Lobster Ravioli.  I had been looking forward to it for years.  Yes, years.  Again, it was just okay.  Not terrible, but quite a let down.

Kids Meal:  

Hands down, this was the best kids meal of our entire trip.  It was simple- chicken, veggies, yogurt.  Belle was happy to take a break from pizza and chicken nuggets and gladly ate all of her food.  (Bonus points for the mickey shaped plate.)

Dessert:

This made up for the entree.  

I had the Baileys and Jack Daniel's Mousse, Gregg had the Chocolate Wave (a molten cake with raspberry sauce and raspberry gelato) and Belle had a brownie sundae.  We all agreed that these were the best desserts of the trip.  Perfect for Valentines Day!

Final thoughts:  While it wasn't the best Disney food we've ever tasted, the experience and atmosphere was top notch.  Lunch was relaxing and we felt pretty fancy.  Coral Reef would be a great place for a date or adults only trip.  (Not to say that I wouldn't suggest it to families either.)  

You can check out the whole menu here:  Coral Reef

Good Morning, Grumpy Alice.

It was another cool February morning.

 

Evie was feeling good, but 'Alic'e Belle was not.

 

She had come down with a serious case of the grumpies.

 

I don't know if you've noticed, but she brought a baby to the park every day.  (She is still so into baby dolls and she takes one every where we go.  In fact, the above baby just took a trip to the grocery store.)

Can we get a smile, girls???

 

At least we had one happy child.

We started the morning by grabbing 'breakfast' at Sunshine Seasons and picking up fast passes for Soarin' in The Land.

I've read so many wonderful reviews about the strawberry shortcake there. Sadly,  I wasn't all that impressed.

 

We also shared a heaping plate of breakfast potatoes.  They were really good.

 

These are just two of the many items you can get for a snack credit on the dining plan.

 

Belle asked to visit The Universe of Energy next.

The Figment ride is a ride for the senses and it was almost too much for Gregg and myself- we knew there was NO WAY we would allow her to ride that.  I did think that both girls would enjoy the leaping fountains so we decided to head that way.

Moods were starting to improve.  Is that a smile I see???

Belle took off into the pavillion and we decided to let her explore and see what she thought.

It was pretty loud inside, but it didn't seem to bother her.  Right away she went to a computer and started to create her own 'Figment'.

 

She named her final product 'Lovegood'.  (We watched the Harry Potter series over Christmas break.  She liked Luna.)

There was an area where you could jump around from square to square and they would light up different colors.  (I probably could have explained that better, but my brain is still recovering from pregnancy.)

She had a blast!  It was so worth the trip and I can't wait to bring Evie back to do it, too.

She also had fun conducting her own orchestra. 

It's hard to see in the picture, but when you wave your arms between the bars it makes music. Gregg was outside with Evie (nap time) and missed that, but I think he would have had fun doing that with Belle.

 

We were all getting pretty hungry after such a small breakfast and were very ready for lunch under the sea...

Treehouse Fun and Dinner at Ole' Faithful

I had really been talking up The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.  I should have considered the fact that I was newly pregnant and very tired.  Belle loved it and nearly killed me by going through so many times.

As tired as I was, my heart was full because it's one of my favorite's, too.  I love that about Belle.  I know that if there is something that I adore there is a 99.9% chance she will feel the same.

Afterwards, we decided to meet up with our Disney sister, Emma, in Tommorowland for a spin or two on the Tommorowland Transit Authority.

Belle relaxed while Emma and I talked and enjoyed the ride.  The weather was warming up and it was starting to feel great.

Magic Kingdom had been insanely crowded all week and it was starting to fill up by that point.

We all stopped in the Main Street Bakery.  I bought a cinnamon roll and lunch for Gregg.

The parade was making it's way past so we stopped to dance a bit.  (Emma- I miss you so much!  We need a Disney dance party soon!)

Belle loved having her special ears.  The helped so much during parades and shows.

We spent the rest of the day resting.  Evie started her antibiotic and her fever was down.

That night we had plans to celebrate our anniversary at California Grill.  We ate there on our Honeymoon and have such fond memories, but with Evie being sick we had a tough decision to make.

Just for the record, here's our history with Cali Grill ressies-

-On our 'last adult' trip, we canceled because the Disney Dining Cast Member had double booked us at Cali Grill and The HoopDeeDoo Review.  We chose to spend the evening at the HDR.

-On Belle's first trip, we canceled for a reason I can't remember and decided to have dinner at the resort.   We ended up loving Boatwright's.  (Especially the cornbread.  It really made an impression on me.)

Sadly, for the third time, we were forced to cancel Cali Grill for the 3rd time.  

 

Poor us.

However, we did feel like Evie was well enough to cross the bridge at our resort and dine at Boatwright's.  In our experience, we've only had trouble getting reservations once and that was many moons ago on our Honeymoon.

Before dinner we had a little photo session outside our room.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.  I love that Gregg caught me in a 'mama moment'.

These pictures break my heart.  Evie was so little here!

 

Ahhhh...  my beloved cornbread.  It's sweet and fluffy and exactly how cornbread should taste.

Gregg had the prime rib with red wine Demi-glace with Yukon gold potatoes, watercress and balsamic vinaigrette.

I had a grilled pork chop with Amber Ale Barbecue Sauce, Cheesy Grits, and Onion Rings

I'm almost positive that Belle had pizza, which is why I did not take a picture.  It was pretty much all she ate the entire trip.

For dessert she had a sundae.

I ordered creme brulee, which is my favorite dessert in all of WDW!

We returned to the room early and let Evie rest.  She was starting to feel much better.

Without knowing it, Gregg and I both snuck Valentine's in to our suitcases for one another and the girls.  We exchanged Valentine's before bed.  Such a dear memory for me.

Things were starting to take a turn for the better.